Time to Die

Tue November 14, 2017, 7:30 PM

A man comes home after serving 18 years in jail for murder in this routine western. Although the man killed in self defense, rumors in town circulated that he murdered the victim in cold blood. The ex-con wants to get his life together, but the two sons of the slain man are gunning for the man who killed their father.

An elemental Western about inherited sins and the difference
between honor and pride, Arturo Ripstein's Time to Die
follows a man who, having served 18 years in jail to pay for
killing a man, finds the victim's sons now believe he owes his
life as well. Said to be the first produced screenplay by Gabriel
Garcia Marquez, who wrote it with Carlos Fuentes, it was also the
directing debut of Ripstein, who had just helped his father
Alfredo Ripstein produce Luis Buñuel's The Exterminating Angel.
Finally seeing American release and beautifully restored, the
involving picture is no museum piece; it should fare well as it
tours through art houses, and not only thanks to its
screenwriters' fame.

Jorge Martinez de Hoyos plays Juan Sayago, who hikes back to his
village after his release from prison hoping to pick up where he
left off. He goes to the estate where he used to work horses, and
is told he should turn right back around. Though the owners
respect him and wish him well, some other townfolk "plan to make
you pay."

Those would be the two sons of the man Juan killed, the steely
Julian (Alfredo Leal) and more amiable Pedro (Enrique Rocha). They
were both boys when they lost their father, and we come to realize
they know almost as little about the duel as we do; over the
years, they've turned shreds of gossip into an unshakable belief
that Juan somehow took advantage of Raul Trueba.

Julian has practically lived for revenge, saying that he remained
single and childless so he could engage in a duel without fearing
the consequences. When he finds Juan out on the street and angrily
tosses a gun at him, though, the older man wants nothing to do
with him. He avoids the confrontation, leaving Julian to try to
goad him over the coming days.

This stormcloud of promised violence (a precursor to Garcia
Marquez's novella 1981 Chronicle of a Death Foretold, in which two
brothers plan to kill a man who has dishonored their family) hangs
over the film, coloring every interaction Juan has with the loved
ones he left behind. The pic doesn't turn it into a ticking-clock
drama, a la High Noon or 3:10 to Yuma. Instead, it is more of an
open-ended contest of will: Can Juan resist the calls from those
who care about him to leave town? Can his insistence that justice
has been served win out against the wounded pride of two young
men?

Approaching middle age when he wrote the script, Garcia Marquez
sympathizes with a hero whose masculinity has been tempered by
time and imprisonment. Though clearly capable in many arenas (at
one point, Pedro is forced to marvel that he is a real man, "puro
macho"), Juan lacks the calm defiance a similar character might
show in a Hollywood picture: When threatened, de Hoyos actually
cowers. Juan admits he is afraid, and the film adds to the
poignancy by observing how he is seen by Mariana (Marga Lopez),
his old fiancee. During his imprisonment she married, had a child,
and was widowed; Juan hopes to reunite with her, but when he
visits, she is formal with him. Later, she admits to a friend that
she was so upset at the sight of him she could barely maintain her
composure.

Hoping to avert disaster, Mariana goes to Pedro's girlfriend
Sonia (Blanca Sanchez), hoping she can convince him to call off
the threats. But the women are told it's pointless to interfere
with "men's business," which is governed by forces beyond reason.

On a couple of occasions, the picture uses manipulated sound to
show a character's internal agitation. Alone in his father's study
and girding himself for a fight he has been urged to avoid, Julian
hears his spurs and the clank of his gun as if he were alone in
the bottom of a well. Elsewhere, a handheld camera emphasizes the
uneasiness of lovers who haven't seen each other in nearly two
decades.

But on the whole, sharp dramatization and direct performances
suffice to put the story's themes across more urgently than
expected. Juan doesn't want to die, but he can't stand leaving the
life that was put on hold for so long. We're just as eager to see
him live, even if all the ways he might do so look pretty bad.